BIO

Nico Wheadon is director of public programs and community engagement at the Studio Museum in Harlem, where she designs and delivers adult programs that engage audiences, activate partnerships, and deepen the impact of the Museum’s mission. She is a contributor to The Brooklyn Rail, C& and Artnet, and is currently working on her first manuscript with Rowman & Littlefield. Wheadon is an adjunct professor at Barnard College and Hartford Art School, teaching Freestyle and Displacement in Contemporary Art Practices and Public Art Professional Practices respectively. She has guest-lectured at Pratt Institute, the New School, the Center for Curatorial Leadership, Howard University, and Brown University, where she serves on the advisory board for the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage. Recent speaking engagements include presentations on Rethinking Museum Citizenship at annual conferences for the Museums Association of the Caribbean, MuseumNextNYC, and the Association of African American Museums, with an upcoming presentation slated for 2019 at the American Alliance of Museums Conference. Through her varied practice, Wheadon works alongside artists, cultural partners, and policymakers to deliver an arts- and artist-led collective impact model for social justice. Committed to galvanizing active participation in civic life, her pursuits reflect a deep respect for artists as risk takers that drive culture, democracy, and our collective imagination forward. Wheadon holds an MA in Creative & Cultural Entrepreneurship from Goldsmith's College, University of London, a BA in Art-Semiotics from Brown University, and conducts ongoing fieldwork in human geography and participatory design.